Wheel-pitch gauge



April 1 0, 1928.`

j K v F. R. HARTSOCK WHEEL FITCH GAUGE Filed June 28, .1926

Patented Apr. 10, 1928.

UNITED STATES y .1,665,544 PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK R. HARTSQK, OFWARSAW, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-THIRD TO CHARLES `0. DICKEY AND ONE-THIRD T0 LEONARD E. DICKEY, BOTH 0F WARSAW, INDIANA.

'WHEEL-BITCH GAT-ren.

Application ined June as. 1926. serial No. 119,104.

As is well known, 'it is, desirable -to slightly incline the spindles of the vehicle axle downwardly and outwardly to thus cause the wheels to incline slightly upwardly and outwardly, this inclination being called the camber or pitch; and it is also well known that it is desirable to incline the spindles of the front, steering wheels of a motor vehicle slightly forwardly to cause the wheels to slightly converge forwardly, this converging osition being referred to in the trade as the toe-in. It is the object of my invention. to enable one to quickly and easily' gauge the camber and toe-in or pitch of vehicle wheels with a view of determining whether or not they are functioning properly, it being of the utmost importance to properly set the wheels in order to avoid undue wear of the pneumatic tires. It is the special object of the present invention to adapt the gauge for convenient use on the modern cars which, as is well known, are provided with a number of parts adjacent thefront wheels that must he avoided in using a gauge of this' class.

In the drawing--k Fig. 1 is a plan view of my improved apparat-us partly broken away; p

Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are detail views hereinafter described. f

My device consists, in its preferred form, of a pair of bars 5 overlapped upon each other and adapted to relatively slide, these two bars being held in their overlapped position by means 'of a pair of loops 6, one being rigidly attached to each ofthe bars. A re tractile spring 7 is employed for normallyl tending-'to endwisely separate or extend the bars, this spring being arranged parallel yto the bars-and being connected at its opposite ends tothe aforesaid loops 6..

Rigidly attached to-each `of the bars 5 near its outer end is a. forwardly-extending arm 8, and pivotally mounted on the. extreme forward end of this arm is a gauge-lever 9 whose forward end 10 is curved outwardly and whose rear-end is sharpened to provide a pointer 11, which pointer works over a -scale-plate 12 fastened on top of the bars 5 and 8 by `rivets 13, over the 'joint between the bars 5 and 8. v

A spring tends'to swing the bent end 10 outwardly and the pointer inwardly, this spring consisting of a coil 14 surrounding e nut 15 on the pivot-bolt 16 connecting the gauge-lever to the supporting arm .8; and thls coil 14 has two oppositely-extending arms, one, 17, being engaged in a hole in the.

extends through the hole in the arm 8 and is bent to forma stop-finger 19 against which the pointer-end of the gauge-lever normally abuts, thus holding this gauge-lever in conyelrient position for applying to a wheel- In using the device, the two supporting bars 5 are slid inwardly on each other against the action of the spring 7, and, the bar thus contracted is passed between the pair of wheels to be gauged; then the supporting'bars are released to permit the sp-r-ing 7 to normally `slide the supporting bars outwardly-until the ends of the supporting bars abut against the fellies of the respective wheels, the inner ends of the gauge-hars being allowed to rest against the wheel-fellies at a point beyond the centers of the wheels, as usual with this type of gauge and as shown in Fig. 3, the numeral 2O designating the wheel-felly. tive inclination of the wheels will be indicated on the scale-plate. In, gauging the camber or pitchof the wheels, the gaugebars 5 are of course placed in an upright position against the inner faces of the wheels at a point in front ofor in the rear of the axle; and, in gauging the toe-in, the gauge-bars are placed in a horizontal position at a point centrally below the axle.

The rela- By employing a spring to normally swing the gauging end of the. gauge-bar outwardly as well as a spring to normally extend the supporting member 5 5, it will be seen that the apparatus adjusts itself to the :wheels automatically when the bars 5-5 are. released. The use of the actuating spring 14 and the stop 19 also insures the brake equipments, since the gauge .may be `gauge member being held in proper posilll als

applied to the Wheels at a considerable distance from the center thereof.

What I claim as new'is:

l. In a wheel-pitch gauge, a. supporting member embodying a pair of bars and means for slidably connecting said bars for parallel movement, means normally tending to extend them, each bar being provided with an arm near its outer end extending forwardly with respect to said supporting member, a scale-plate al" the unction ofA eachv arm and its bar, a gauge-lever pivotally mounted on the forward end of each bar and having its forward end turned outwardly for engagement with Itlicl wheel-telly and havingl its rear end pointed and adaptedto move` over the adjacent scale, and a spring at the lioint ,of each gauge-bar with .its arm normally tending toswing the' for- Ward end of the gauge-bar outwardly, stops 4being employedtoprestrict Vthis outward movement of said gauge-bars. A

2. In a wheel-,pitch gauge, a supporting member embodying a pair of bars and means for slidably connecting said bars for parallel movement, means normally tending to extend them to permit the Aouterends thereof to rest against the` opposite wheels, a

gauge-bar pivotally mounted on each of` said bars and projecting for'wardlytherefrom, -a, s ,oa'le-plate cooperating with the to each gauge-bar near its outer end extend-- ing forwardly with respect to said sup porting-member, a scale-plate adjacent to the rear end of each arm,- a gauge-lever piv.I

oted on the forward end of each arm and having its rear end pointed to Aserve as anv indicator-finger for the scale-plate, a spring Vat the pivotal joint of each gange-lever, said spring having one end connected to `thega-uge-lever and the other end to the arm, this latter end of the spring being extended to form -a'stop.

In testimony WhereofuI hereunto aix FRANK R. HA'RTSOCK.

signature. 

